This invention relates to a method of supplying a plurality of sheet materials comprising tire constituent materials and cut into a predetermined size to a building drum and an apparatus therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of supplying sheet materials, and an apparatus therefor, which can efficiently laminate and assemble a plurality of sheet materials on a building drum after cutting them in the length equivalent to a width wound on the building drum, the sheet materials formed in the width equivalent to length of a circuit of the building drum in advance.
When an inner liner, a carcass, etc, as tire constituent materials are laminated in a tire shaping process, these sheet materials are supplied one by one to a tire building drum and are sequentially laminated and assembled on the building drum. After the distal end portion of the sheet material conveyed on a conveyor belt of a applying conveyor is touched to the building drum, it is wound on the building drum while this drum is being rotated. A plurality of the sheet materials can be sequentially laminated and applied on the building drum when this operation is repeatedly carried out.
Such a method, and an apparatus therefor, are described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61384/1990 filed by the applicant of the present invention, for example.
The supplying method according to the prior art described above still involves the problem that the applying time is long and the working efficiency is low because the sheet materials are applied one by one.
When the sheet materials are applied, air is trapped between the layers of sheet materials and generates air reservoirs. Therefore, an air removal step must be provided.